Remember the riots you always see occurring on the news or
read about in the newspaper? Would you ever want a chance to take
part in one? Thanks to Rock Star Games (the same people who
brought us Grand Theft Auto 3), now you can. Almost everyone has
been comparing this game to GTA3, so I will do the same. Will it
have the same success as it? Lets get onto the review and
find out.

The Story

A riot has broke loose in a mall, and you run missions for
your bosses. This is much like Grand Theft Auto 3, minus the cars
and outside environment.

Graphics

The visuals are in the same league as GTA3, but still manage
to appear looking completely different and having their own
identity. The game crams hundreds of people running around a mall
at a frantic pace, and surprisingly, there is not much slowdown
visible at all. Most of the characters in the game have their own
look. All the characters are detailed very good, not down to the
tiniest detail, but enough to make out whos who. The
multistory mall the games set in looks very close to what
one is like in the real world. It comes complete with escalators,
and a variety of stores. Everything is animated at a fluid pace,
and looks perfectly fine, except for the excess amount of gore.
It is humorous to look at the amounts of blood shooting out of
the people after you beat them to a bloody pulp (not that
its fun to do in real life). The opening loading times are
shorter than the ones in GTA3, but still a bit on the long side.
The game has very simple menus, and youll find yourself
going into a game in no time.

Sound

The sound is a bit of a disappointment, in my opinion. The
sound effects are pretty much all thats done well in the
game. All the gun shots, punches, and screams are what they sound
like you expect them to be. I like it how fellow rioters yell at
you when you get in their way. Remember all the great mission
briefings in GTA3, complete with all that great voice acting? If
you do, youll be disappointed to find out that Rock Star
has taken out the voice acting, and all we get for mission
briefings are text boxes. Now I dont have anything against
that, but I get a feeling the game was rushed when you consider
GTA3 had loads of voice acting for mission briefings that the
development team could have easily added in. For background
music, you just get some simple little tunes which you dont
even notice with everybody yelling at you through the riot.

Game play

The controls are fairly simple. You only have a few options
available to you by running by just holding the analog pad, and
running faster by holding down another button. Action features
available to you are buttons used for punching, picking up
weapons, and using your weapons. I picked up the default control
configuration for the game in no time, and I am sure you will do
the same.

The game has two modes of play available for you to choose
from. In Chaos mode you have a time limit to get as high of a
score as possible. You attain this by getting points by murdering
cops, robbing stores, and just about doing anything else your
average rioter would. The other mode is called Revolution. In
Revolution mode, you go around the mall running missions for your
boss much like in GTA3. The missions range from guarding fellow
criminals while they hijack computer systems to killing certain
individuals carrying classified information. Most of the missions
are a cakewalk, but some are a bit on the challenging side.

Replay Value

The game keeps track of your high scores for both game modes,
so you can always play again to beat your highest scores. Chaos
mode is fun for a quick play to learn the controls, and
Revolution will provide several hours of game play. For some
weird reason, a two-player mode wouldve seemed to fit in
splendidly for this type of game if they added one, but none is
to be found.

In Brief

+: Graphics have their own identity, simple controls, missions
provide hours of game play

-: Weak in the audio department, no two player mode, game
feels rushed

The Final Ratings Rundown

Graphics: 8.7
Sound: 5.5
Game play: 8.0
Replay Value: 6.7

Overall: 7.2

Rounded to fit GameFAQs Score: 7

Comments

State of Emergency is a good game, but no where in the same
league as GTA3. The game definitely feels rushed so Rock Star
could capitalize on the game by the success of GTA3. Voice acting
shouldve been in the mission briefings, and a two-player
mode seemed like an avoided feature. A lot of people probably
played GTA3 and thought this game is a lot like it. I recommend
you rent this one first, and then decide on purchasing it.